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Preventing Homelessness : a Review of the International Evidence

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Preventing Homelessness : a Review of the International Evidence This is a repository copy of Preventing Homelessness : A review of the International evidence. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/145335/ Version: Published Version Monograph: Pleace, Nicholas orcid.org/0000-0002-2133-2667 (2019) Preventing Homelessness : A review of the International evidence. Research Report. Simon Communities of Ireland , Cork. Reuse ["licenses_typename_other" not defined] Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Preventing Homelessness: A Review of the International Evidence Nicholas Pleace Simon Communities of Ireland April 2019 Acknowledgements My thanks to Simon Communities of Ireland for commissioning this review and for help with the project. This report draws on their work on the development of prevention and the relevant legislation. My thanks to my colleagues Dr Paula Mayock and Professor Eoin O’Sullivan (Trinity College, Dublin) for their comments on an earlier draft of this report. Nicholas Pleace Centre for Housing Policy, University of York Sept 2018 1 Simon Communities of Ireland April 2019 Disclaimer Interpretations and views reported here are not necessarily those of the Simon Communities of Ireland or the University of York. Responsibility for any errors lies with the author. 2 Simon Communities of Ireland April 2019 Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 1 Disclaimer................................................................................................................................................ 2 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 5 1. The Review .................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9 About the Report ................................................................................................................................ 9 Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Key Questions ............................................................................................................................... 10 2. The Need to Prevent Homelessness ....................................................................................... 11 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Increases in Homelessness ............................................................................................................... 11 The Human Cost ............................................................................................................................... 14 Health ............................................................................................................................................ 14 Long-term and repeated homelessness ....................................................................................... 14 Families ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Women .......................................................................................................................................... 16 Young people ................................................................................................................................ 17 Life chances ................................................................................................................................... 18 Barriers to work ............................................................................................................................ 18 Development and educational attainment ................................................................................... 19 The Financial Cost ............................................................................................................................. 20 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 22 3. Homelessness Prevention ........................................................................................................ 23 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 23 Defining Homelessness Prevention ................................................................................................. 23 Defining homelessness ................................................................................................................. 23 Prevention and rapid rehousing ................................................................................................... 24 Typologies of prevention .............................................................................................................. 26 3 Simon Communities of Ireland April 2019 Building preventative services ...................................................................................................... 30 Targeting Prevention ........................................................................................................................ 33 Two approaches ............................................................................................................................ 33 Targeted systems .......................................................................................................................... 33 Universal access ............................................................................................................................ 35 Effective Prevention ......................................................................................................................... 36 Testing the Case Against Prevention ............................................................................................... 39 The gatekeeping critique .............................................................................................................. 39 The sticking plaster critique .......................................................................................................... 40 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 41 4. Operationalising Prevention .................................................................................................... 42 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 42 National Policy .................................................................................................................................. 42 Building an Effective Strategy .......................................................................................................... 47 Examples of Strategic Implementation ........................................................................................... 49 Wales ............................................................................................................................................. 49 England .......................................................................................................................................... 52 Finland ........................................................................................................................................... 58 USA ................................................................................................................................................ 60 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 62 5. Moving Forward ......................................................................................................................... 64 4 Simon Communities of Ireland April 2019 Summary Preventing Homelessness A review of the International Evidence Key Findings This rapid review of the international evidence was designed to look for lessons in developing effective homelessness prevention from other countries. The review found three essentials for effective homelessness prevention. 1. Prevention must be part of an integrated homelessness strategy. 2. Effective prevention is both flexible and connected, adapting to Peoples’ needs by working effectively with other services. 3. Prevention requires a sufficient housing supply in order to work well. There were three other key findings: • A good supply of stable and affordable housing is at the root of any effective response to homelessness. • People also need
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